Welcome back to a new episode of Tech Tuesday! I know many of you are shifting your mindset for the last quarter, reviewing, and preparing for finals. This week’s episode focuses on big end of the year project ideas to keep your students learning!
I’m really excited about today’s topic because once AP testing and SOLs are finished, many of you get a chance to try big ideas and create really innovative projects. Like these two, from last school year when I worked with Mrs. Webb’s 6th graders to create book trailers and choose your own adventure stories.
BOOK TRAILERS
With the book trailers, students picked a book they had read during the year, created storyboards to summarize the important details, and add a catchy ending without giving away the ending. Mrs. Webb was then going to take these trailers and add them via QR codes to the inside flap of the books in her classroom library so students could view them and make decisions about which books to read. This idea could absolutely be used in any content area. Students don’t have to read a book, they can take any concept, idea or process learned throughout the year and create a trailer out of it, with links to sites or articles for the audience to learn more. You can use these trailers for the next school year as a way to get incoming students interested in topics you’ll be teaching!
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE STORIES
We also created choose your own adventure stories from the novel Hatchet. With a partner, students re-wrote the ending of Hatchet by creating several options for an audience to choose from. They planned out each option on an index card which helped them organize their new endings and then designed their own Google Slide presentations and linked choices to other slides. Students viewed each group’s presentation in a digital gallery walk and gave feedback to each group. Mrs. Webb’s students really got into this project and came up with some really creative options!
SURF YOUR OWN ADVENTURE WEBSITE
Now, if you really wanted to challenge your students you could have them create an entire choose your own adventure website. I met Michael Greene last November at EdCampNoVA and he told the group about how he has students use Google Sites to create stories with graphics that link to different pages within the site, what he calls “Surf Your Own Adventure”. This is his example using Sleepy Hollow. He adds in background music, images, and makes it truly unique. I think students would really be into creating something like this.
Speaking of websites, you could also split students into groups and assign different concepts they’ve learned throughout your class with each group creating their own page of the site. They could create instructional videos, guides, add images and teach others about these concepts. Google Sites allows for multiple collaborators so each group could work on a different page at the same time. You could do something similar in Google Slides where instead of different pages, students work on their own slides. Turn this into a digital book or resource guide by changing the slide size to 8.5 by 11.
SCREENCASTS, INFOMERCIALS, AND MORE USING VIDEO
Another great way for students to share their knowledge is through video. Students can create screencasts using either Screencastify or WeVideo or it could take the form of an infomercial, instructional video, talk show, or newscast, in which you can use WeVideo or Adobe Spark video. Students could also make a survival video such as “How to Survive an AP class” or “Things You Should Know for the 8th Grade”.
This is a great introductory way to use video in your classroom, because everyone can be part of the brainstorming and creation processes. Whatever option you choose, let your students be creative and make sure they storyboard their ideas or have a script. I’ll share a link to a Google Drive folder I have with various storyboard options.
STORYBOARD CHECKPOINTS
Now, let me get on my soapbox for a minute. I am a BIG believer in checking completed storyboards before students start recording. This should be a checkpoint area where you get to check their knowledge, re-direct them if needed, and help stop any issues before the final product is done and you can’t go back and fix it! Why have students record a final product that has incorrect information and isn’t useful for future classes? Companies who make videos for public consumption wouldn’t create a video with misinformation and then go back to check if they were accurate afterwards, they would lose thousands of dollars re-shooting footage, so why would we want students doing the same thing? The most important part of creating a video isn’t shooting the footage or editing it. It’s in the writing of the story! So by creating checkpoint times you have an opportunity to talk with a group of students about their learning, why they did or didn’t include things, and not only continue teaching them about the video process, but also the learning process. Students shouldn’t get to film until you are satisfied with their script or storyboard. I know it may sound like ranting, but this is an important step in this process and something that should be emphasized.
Once students have a final product, you can add videos as unlisted, instead of public, to use in a YouTube Channel and have all of the videos in one easy place for students to view through a link you give them. No one else will be able to find the videos, unless they have the link.
VIDEO VS. AUDIO
Now, you can also give your students a choice between video or audio. WeVideo recently announced a new feature for just publishing audio which would be similar to a podcast. Some of these same video ideas can be transferred to audio as you can still do infomercials, a radio talk show or newscast. By adding music, students can create an introduction, ending and transitions. Again, create a checkpoint time to assess their script before they record.
VIRTUAL TRIPS AND SCAVENGER HUNTS USING GOOGLE TOUR BUILDER
I’m also a fan of Google Tour Builder, which allows students to create any kind of tour and add locations, images, links, videos, descriptions and more! Students could create a visual tour of a person’s life, show important locations from major events like the American Revolution or the Civil Rights Movement. You can also create your own tour like this one called The Super Sleuth, Chet’s Cheesy Chicken Chimichanga recipe. Students will travel the world and meet with secret agents following the case and listening to the testimony of agents and witnesses closely to help uncover the trail of the thief and put them behind bars! It’s like a scavenger hunt, but much more!
CONNECTING WITH PASSIONS
Because it’s also the end of the year, this can be a great time to let students connect with their passions. Is there something they really like to do and can share it with others? Or perhaps they have a cause they want to rally for such as homelessness or health issues. Let them create a project with this in mind.
SHOWING GROWTH THROUGH REFLECTION
You may just want students to reflect on their accomplishments this year too. Piktochart is known for infographics and is great to use with data and charts. You may have had students set goals for themselves at the beginning of the year or semester and using this tool is a good way to visually see their goals achieved or the progress they’ve made. Students can add images and charts that represent their performance growth. This can easily be shared with parents and administrators too. Check out this post from Piktochart to help you get started!
NEED MORE IDEAS?
If you’re still looking for ideas, check out episode 9 from season 2 of Tech Tuesday where I talked about how to rock the end of the school year with ideas from Ditch That Textbook.
If you choose to do one of these projects, please share with me @mspriester_itrt or by email! I’m looking forward to what you create!
REMINDERS
A few reminders before we close out this episode:
If you watch the last 5 episodes from this season (Episodes 13-17) AND come up with a lesson plan from ONE of these episodes you’ll get 5 PD points. For today’s episode, you don’t have to create a lesson plan surrounding only the ideas I’ve shared. If one of these ideas inspires you to create your own, that’s great too!
Here’s what you need to do to make sure you get your points:
- Submit the form in the description area below telling me what you learned in each episode and add the file with your lesson plan.
- Register for the PD Session called “Tech Tuesday PD series” in Teachpoint.
You MUST do BOTH steps in order to get your points. The form will be available until June 14, 2019.
A FAVOR
I also want to hear about your favorite technology projects that you’ve done in your classrooms this year and feature them on the last episode of the season! I can come film you or you can film yourself and send me your video, or… as I know some of you are not thrilled with being on camera, I can record your voice and we’ll show pictures of the project instead! Connect with me on email or Twitter if you’re interested in sharing! I will need recordings by May 14th.
That’s all for this episode and thanks for watching! I’ll see you in two weeks!
Ms Priester EDU 